Side-by-side comparisons of processes and equipment that are easy to confuse: blasting or shot peening, wheel or air nozzle, manual or automated, centrifugal disc or vibratory bowl. Each article says what each option actually does, what it does not do, and which one fits your parts.
Parts do not fail from the inside. They fail from the surface. Fatigue cracks start almost always from a point on the surface — a scratch, a machining mark, an inclusion brought to light. That is why surface condition is not a question of appearance. It is a question of service life. The rule of […]
Surface integrity and part service life Read More »
Surface treatment was for a long time the last operation on the list, done however it happened to be done. That is changing, from four directions at once. 1. The surface becomes a design parameter Parts fail from the surface. Fatigue cracks start there. The consequence is that finishing is no longer decided in the
Where surface treatment is heading Read More »
It is the first decision, and the most expensive one to get wrong. A payback calculation alone does not settle it. What points toward subcontracting Low or irregular volume. An idle machine produces nothing but still costs — space, maintenance, tied-up capital. No process experience. Vibratory finishing and blasting have recipes. They are learnable, but
When to subcontract and when to buy the machine Read More »
